


Ice Packs

by lokifiction



Category: Loki (Marvel) - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Jotun Loki, Soft Loki, Whump, Wisdom Teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 16:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lokifiction/pseuds/lokifiction
Summary: Loki takes care of his partner after wisdom teeth extraction surgery.





	Ice Packs

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: For this oneshot to work out the way I wanted to, I knew I somehow had to take away Loki’s magic, because if he had his magic, nothing in this oneshot would have to occur and I wouldn’t have a plot. However, I didn’t want to take away from that plot for a big explanation as to why he doesn’t have his magic, so just fyi before you read: I imagined this as a scenario where Loki died and was resurrected after Infinity War, but the process to bring him back to life depleted his magic considerably, and it has to slowly return to his full range within a year or so. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: Language; descriptions of blood, anesthesia, and other things that go along with wisdom teeth surgery.

“Promise me that you’ll film me when I come out of there.”

Loki looked over at me from the driver’s seat and frowned. “Why on Earth would I do that?”

“Because.” I giggled. “People usually act really hilariously when they’re coming off of anesthesia. I’m a bit excited to see how I’ll be.”

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. Currently, he was driving me into the oral surgeon’s office for my wisdom teeth extraction, and didn’t have the best attitude regarding the situation.

“I really don’t see the necessity of putting yourself through such a superfluous procedure,” he snapped.

“It’s not superfluous,” I insisted. “Humans get it done to prevent pain when the molars grow in and so that our teeth don’t go crooked from the crowding.”

“Yes, but there must be a simpler way.” He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. Throughout the whole process, he hadn’t been too keen on me being put under anesthesia and having a “stranger” go to town in my mouth with a scalpel. “Something that doesn’t involve a surgical procedure.”

“Ah, but then it wouldn’t make the dental people as much money,” I teased.

“If I had my full range of magic, I could remove them from your jaw with a snap of my fingers, and you’d never feel a thing.”

“That would be nice, but the thing is that you don’t have full range of your magic right now. And you won’t for a little while yet.” I put my hand on his thigh, clad in a pair of black jeans that hugged him in all the right places. “It’ll be completely fine, I promise. Literally almost everyone has this done at some point or another. It’s really not that big of a deal.”

Loki harrumphed and drew his brows together in stubborn defiance, but placed his hand on top of mine and rubbed my knuckles in silent trust.

In a few short minutes, we pulled into the surgeon’s office. Loki hovered over my shoulder as I signed release forms, and poured over the aftercare instruction pamphlets with religious fervor. I chuckled at his zeal, but my attention was primarily focused on the aquarium in the waiting room.

“Loki, look.” I pointed out a pair of clownfish. “They’re kissing.”

“I can’t look, darling,” he replied. “I have to make sure I understand all of this material.”

“Come on, you’ll have the whole time I’m back there to look at that.” I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, scanning the papers and wondering what I was getting myself into.

“I really don’t see why I can’t be back there with you,” he continued. “My presence is allowed in all of your other Midgardian doctor’s appointments.”

“This is different. It’s a surgical procedure; the environment has to be sterile.”

He pouted. “I’m very clean.”

“That’s not at all what I mean.”

“Still. If this was Asgard, no matter the severity of a procedure, I would be by your side. The healers would work around me as they were trained to do.”

“Yes, but this isn’t Asgard.” I reached out and twirled a strand of his hair round my finger. “It’ll be fine. They’re just teeth.”

Behind us, the door leading back into the dental offices opened, and a nurse called my name.

“I’ll see you in no time,” I assured as I stood, pecking Loki quickly on the lips. “Don’t forget to film me when you come back!” ~ 

“Sweetie, are you awake?”

I opened my eyes drowsily and discovered a nurse looking down at me, gauze in her hand. My brain was clouded, and everything was simultaneously hilarious and devastating. Unable to move my lips to procure any sort of response, I nodded dumbly. The nurse smiled lightly and tucked the gauze into my mouth.

“Bite down on that for me, okay?” She reached under my shoulders and helped me to stand. “We’ll get you to recovery and then bring your boyfriend back, okay?”

I gasped, my eyes going wide as we hobbled down the hall. “My boyfriend?” I exclaimed, voice muffled by the gauze.

“Yes, sweetie. Your boyfriend was the one that brought you here.”

“Oh. I’m glad I have one of those,” I babbled as we entered a small lounge and the nurse lowered me down onto a recliner and draped a blanket over me. “Is he handsome?”

“Yes, honey,” the nurse giggled. “He’s very handsome.”

“Well, I’m excited then.” I wiggled in my seat. “Bring him in.”

The nurse clipped a monitor onto my finger and left me alone in the recovery lounge. I sat docile in my drugged state, not really thinking much of anything until Loki came through the doors, face only slightly contorted in concern.

“Loki!” I cried out from my chair. “Holy shit, you’re so pretty!”

He chuckled, visibly relieved, coming to sit on the chair beside mine and stroking my hair lightly. “Hi, love. Are you doing alright?”

I felt tears prick the back of my eyes, and before I knew it, I was sobbing.

“What’s wrong, love?” He cooed, wiping my face and mouth with a tissue as the nurse looked on.

“I- I just- I just-,” I whined through a torrential bout of tears. “I love you so much!”

My comment brought Loki’s gentle chuckles up to a scale of full-blown laughter.

“Stop making fun of me!” I protested. “It’s true!”

“I’m not making fun of you, sweetling.” He brought my hand to his lips. “I love you very much, too.”

“She’s probably just fine to go now,sir,” the nurse interjected. “Do you need any aftercare instructions reviewed?”

“No, thank you. I think I’ve got everything under control.” Loki pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arm around my waist, my head lolling onto his shoulder. “Come on, love. Let’s get you home.”

~

I cracked my eyes open and found myself cocooned in the bed that Loki and I usually shared, ice packs secured onto my cheeks, my mouth full of bloody saliva, and my lips completely numb. I glanced around the room, slightly confused, only grasping vague memories of what happened over the past three hours. I gingerly pushed myself into a sitting position, and, once my vision cleared from a brief bout of lightheadedness, I opened my mouth to call for Loki, but found I could barely do so due to pain.

Pressing a hand to my puffy cheek, I strained my ears to hear what he could be doing, but, as usual, he was characteristically quiet in a way only inhumans could achieve. I rooted around the bed, which would’ve been more appropriately dubbed as a monstrous mountain of pillows to keep my head elevated, and eventually found my phone under a hefty stack of wet tissues. Wondering what on Earth happened to create the pile. I dialed Loki’s number, trying to put the phone to my ear but finding it too painful and settling for speaker.

“Are you awake, love?”

“Yeah.” My voice was unintentionally very whiny. “I want you.”

“Let me finish something and I’ll be right there.”

After he hung up the call, I collapsed back onto my pillows, groaning at the pain that crept up the back of my jaw. I was still woozy from the anesthesia, and couldn’t manage to find a comfortable position. I was halfway dying of thirst, but couldn’t muster up the energy to reach over and get my cup off the nightstand. I willed Loki to finish whatever he was doing faster and hurry over to me.

“Are you awake now, love?” Loki’s voice preceded him into the room. I turned my head towards him as much as I was able, as even my neck was sore from the procedure. I looked him up and down, still dressed in what he wore to the surgeon’s office, carrying ice packs and a bowl of applesauce.

“How long was I asleep?” I asked, remaining still as he set what he carried aside and began to tidy my pillows and blankets. During the process, he seemed to read my mind and handed me my cup, wiping the water that ran down my chin as my numb lips tried to draw it in. I flushed in embarrassment over how pathetic the scene must have looked.

“Not long. A couple of hours at best.” Loki held up the ice packs. “How’s your pain? Do you want these on?”

I nodded again, holding still as he affixed them to my cheeks. The cold stung, but I knew that the throbbing pain in my gums would become much worse without the ice packs, so I endured it.

“Anesthetic-wise, how are you feeling?” Loki continued to question, being a perfect nurse.

“I don’t really feel drugged anymore.” My mouth was starting to swell and my voice came out as a lisp. “I still feel a bit goofy, though. Like I could laugh or cry at the drop of a hat.”

“Well, I must admit, you were pretty entertaining when you were recovering.” Loki pulled his lips into his signature smug smile, lowering himself down on the edge of the bed.

“What did I do?” The thought of my drugged actions excited me enough to sit forward. “Was it good?”

“Indeed. You were very emotional, and kept going on passionate speeches about how much you loved me. My favorite moment was when you suddenly got very angry and went on a passionate spiel about just how you were going to vanquish everyone who’s ever hurt me.” Loki broke off to chuckle, pulling his phone out of his pocket and fiddling with it. “There was a lot of crying, too. It took me an hour to get you to stop. That’s where all the tissues came from.”

“Oh my god, that’s better than I hoped for.” I nodded towards the device. “Please tell me that means you filmed it.”

“It does indeed. Here’s a clip.”

Loki turned the screen towards me, displaying a scene of me reclining in the car, my eyes closed and my mouth drooping open, wet tear tracks shining on my cheeks.

“What did you say, love?” Loki’s voice said offscreen.

“I said that since Thanos choked you to death, I’m gonna choke him to death with my dick!” Video-me exclaimed, voice muffled by gauze.

“How are you going to do that when you don’t have a dick?” Video-Loki questioned.

“I don’t know, but I have to do it somehow!” I watched myself burst into torrential tears. “They killed you, Loki, I can’t believe they killed you? How could they do that? I’m so mad at them! I’m- I’m gonna rip their guts out because they killed you! You didn’t deserve that! You deserve love and happiness and-”

I started to laugh at myself, but the pain that resulted from the action caused me to break off and hold my cheeks gingerly. Loki paused the video, eyebrows drawing together.

“You can watch the rest of that when you’re feeling better.” He retrieved the applesauce and held it out to me. “Do you want to eat something so you can take your pain medication?”

I once again nodded pitifully, and Loki began to patiently spoon-feed me. I was a bit ashamed of my invalid state and that someone who was literally royalty was having to put applesauce in my mouth and wipe my chin when it slipped past my swollen lips, but deeper down, my heart was warm and fuzzy at how tender and affectionate he was being, taking care of my very unglamorous state without a single grimace of disgust or snide remark.

When the applesauce was gone and I had swallowed my pill, Loki draped an extra blanket over me and helped me turn the TV on.

“If you’re comfortable, I’ll be reading in the living room if you need me.” He kissed my forehead and made to leave the room, but I grabbed his wrist.

“No.” I patted the bed next to me. “Cuddle with me.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” I insisted. “You sit freakishly still. Come on or I’ll start crying again.”

“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” Loki smirked but complied to my request all the same, reclining on top of the covers. As he hit play on the TV show I’d watched a thousand times before and planned to binge during my recovery, I snuggled up to him and intertwined my fingers in his. In the comfort of his presence, I was able to forget my pain and discomfort, and once again slip into a much-needed sleep.

~

“Loki, I’m so sick of this!” I whined.

It was my third day post-op. I couldn’t get my teeth together, so I hadn’t eaten anything that wasn’t pureed for two days, and when I did eat, I couldn’t get my mouth open, so I ended up with food all over my face. That was definitely an attractive sight to show the god that was supposed to be taking care of me. On top of that, I hadn’t been able to brush my teeth, either, and a horribly bad taste lingered in my mouth. And, to add further insult to injury, my face was swelled up to the point where it looked like I was hiding two softballs in my cheeks. At that point in the recovery process, the swelling was at its peak, as was my pain- a nagging, constant pain that was more annoying than severe, bringing me nearly to tears.

“I know, love. It will get better.” Loki leaned in to kiss me, but I made a protesting sound in the back of my throat and put my hands out to keep him at bay. He pulled back and stared at me with wide eyes.

“Sorry.” I averted my gaze and put my hand over my mouth. “I’m sure my breath is really bad, and I don’t want you to have to smell it.”

“I assure you, love, I’ve gone through greater discomfort than that,” he consoled, but pulled back nonetheless.

“I know. I just don’t like you seeing me like this.” I pointed to my cheeks. “Look at me! I’m so ugly right now.”

“I don’t think your cheeks make you ugly.” He pulled up to his full height, sitting into one hip and observing me from above. “I think they’re cute.”

“Liar.” I tossed a wadded-up napkin at him. “You fell in love with the pretty and perfect version of me. You’re royalty and a god, for fuck’s sake, you shouldn’t have to deal with me like this.”

“My past and its repercussions that you have to deal with are far uglier than this could ever be.” With the gentlest of touches, seeing as I was still very sore, he caressed my puffy cheek. “Besides, I like taking care of you like this. It takes away the feeling of mine that I ruin everything and break whatever I touch.”

“Well, you sure know how to sweet talk,” I pouted.

“They don’t call me Silvertongue for nothing.” Loki retrieved the ice packs once more. “It’s time to get these back on, though.”

I reverted back into my whining state. “I don’t want them! I’m so sick of feeling like my face is being suffocated.”

“Alright.” To my surprise, Loki was compliant, setting the packs aside immediately. “Do you feel well enough to go sit outside? I feel like the fresh air could do you some good right now.”

“Oh.” I sat up a bit straighter. “Yeah, that sounds really nice.”

“Wait here, then. I’ll be back to get you.”

I rubbed my throbbing cheeks as Loki left the room again, using all of my willpower to suppress whines of pain until he returned. He helped me climb out of the bed, which would be more appropriately dubbed as a nest over the past three days, intertwining his fingers in mine and leading me out into the warm early summer air.

“Over here, sweetheart.” He indicated towards the porch swing, which he had layered with cushions and a light blanket. “Mind if I sit first?”

I shrugged my approval and he lowered himself down on one side of the swing, helping me climb on and curl up, resting my head on his thighs. When we were situated, he began to rock the swing gently with his heels, the breeze and distant sound of birds nearly lulling me to sleep.

“You really should put some sort of ice back on.” Loki tapped my nose. “Your face is starting to swell more, and you’re turning all red.”

“Gee, thanks, Lo.” I reached up and thumped his chin playfully, giggling. “But I’m so sick of them. They scratch my face all up and make me feel like I’m suffocating.”

“I got some different ones.” He glanced down at me with a bemused expression. “I think you’ll enjoy these a bit more.”

“Alright. I’ll try anything if it will make me comfortable.”

“Close your eyes, then.” He playfully put his hand over my brow, and I complied with as big of a smile I could muster without pain.

“I love your chipmunk smile, but stop it.” He poked my cheeks. “I need you to relax for this.”

I let one last giggle slip out before I obeyed, and after a brief pause and a curiously cold breeze drifting across my face, he cradled my cheeks in his hands and began to give me the gentlest of massages, though his skin was cold as ice. I cracked an eye open and discovered, as I expected, that he was indigo up to his forearms, raised ridges decorating his skin. He didn’t meet my gaze, instead focusing his slightly red-tinged eyes on his task, tongue poking between his teeth.

“Loki,” I breathed. “You know I love this form and I don’t care who knows or sees it, but you’re usually so reserved about it. I’m proud of you for this, but you do realize that we’re sitting outside, where anyone could see us?”

“I do.” Loki’s expression remained stoic, but the tiniest of flushes betrayed him. “But I don’t care if this is going to make you feel better. Is it making you feel better?”

“Mm.” I closed my eyes again and leaned into his touch. “More than anything has.”

“Well, then, I’ll do it as much as I can. I don’t care who sees me like this.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

Loki frowned. “Well, I mean, I can always wipe their memories later.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” I turned my head and pressed a kiss to his palm. “I understand. Thank you for doing this.”

“No need to thank me, love.” He grinned and tucked a bit of hair behind my ear, chilly fingers brushing across my forehead and giving me goosebumps. “I would do anything for my queen.”


End file.
